![]() Uncertainties must be identified and handled: Building with Nature solutions by definition involve natural dynamics and inherent uncertainties. ![]() Tell the story of successful implementation of creativity.Creativity pays off: Dare to embrace innovative ideas, test them and show how they work out in practical examples.More for less is possible! Try to get great value gain with little investment.More value does not imply higher construction cost: When looking for win-win situations, small adjustments to an existing design may produce more value for less or equal money.Valuate the BwN alternatives and compare them with traditional designs. Valuate the qualities of alternatives and pre-select an integral solutionĪssess the inherent qualities of the alternatives and combine them into one optimal integral solution. Seek open-minded rationality, open to the unknown, the unexpected and the unforeseeable while rejecting dogmatism, ideology and intolerance (see also Wikipedia: Transdisciplinary studies).Involve all relevant disciplines in the design process as soon as possible (which disciplines should collaborate given the system at hand, how should they collaborate in order to be most innovative/effective).Solutions are transdisciplinary from the start: Involve academic experts, field practitioners, community members, business owners, decision makers and other stakeholders in the formulation of alternatives.Can the system’s dynamics be used as a positive rather than a negative aspect (utilising natural forces and expected changes as a means to achieve one’s goals, use available time to achieve necessary change gradually rather than at once with associated over-engineering)?.Can available resources be utilized to come to more sustainable solutions (PPP solutions: less energy, less material, multi functional)?.Can available resources be utilized to lower construction and maintenance costs (more flexible solutions)?.Utilizing services provided by the ecosystem: How can better use be made of locally active (natural) resources: tide, waves, gradients, sediment availability, flora, fauna, economy, cultural values, etc?.Smaller scale: how can the project (with small adaptations) be more eco-friendly?.Larger scale: how can a project deliver benefits to the overall system in which it resides?.Delivering services to the ecosystem: How can we strengthen the functioning of the receiving system (ecology, recreation, landscape)?.One way to come up with such innovative ‘inverse’ ideas is to answer a number of basic questions: Building with Nature Designs take an inverted perspective: Turn a traditional reactive perspective into a proactive one (problems are opportunities).Identify realistic alternatives that provide true win-win solutions providing services beyond mitigation and compensation, alternatives that make maximum use of the system’s potential (physical, socio-economical and governance-wise) while safeguarding or even enhancing sustainability. Think multifunctional: Remember to look for user functions beyond those covered by the primary objective.delving into historical records to better understand the evolution of the system as a whole and to think of approaches that build on historically available expertise. ![]()
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